“Poptimism intimated that critics should not just take pop music seriously but celebrate it—or else.…” (1/4)

I wrote about Flannery O’Connor and how her subversive writing was the kindling that Toni Morrison lit on fire. Their stories and essays have changed how we think about ourselves, and, by doing so, they have gifted us a cheat code to changing the world.

dariusjagjag.substack.com/p/episode-2-...

Kindergartener just told me “memory is not a sense” and wandered off so I’ve got a new guru.

From @recordoftheday.bsky.social: "we'd recommend taking the time to read Darius Van Arman's recent piece in Stereogum. It’s as much a critique of consolidation in the music industry as it is a meditation on the economics of music streaming & the pitfalls of algorithmically-driven music discovery."

I like very much how my friend Hunter Giles from @infinitecatalog.bsky.social ties whether you’re an independent (in the music industry context) to how you behave. He shared the following:

If you’re re-investing, you’re an independent

If you’re moving culture forward, you’re an independent

I am starting a substack called "In This Game Together". It will be a journal about culture, writing and music. For thinkers, and for those looking for magic in the cracks around us.

(Link in the comments)

In this fight we find ourselves in—the struggle for independence in the modern age—, we need to fearlessly push back against all market concentration wherever it arises.

I wrote an essay from the heart and mind about independence and the current state of culture industries.